Remembering Tom K. McLaughlin Jr.

"Just a few days ago, Ralph Cohen said, he was in London in a room full of some of the world's leading experts on the re-creation of Shakespearean-era theaters. They were geniuses of architecture, lighting, ventilation materials, construction — all the necessary elements.

He said that when they saw images of the theater that was, in large part, the result of the vision of his friend, Richmond architect Thomas Kesler McLaughlin Jr., the room fell silent.

"You could sense the awe, the appreciation," Cohen said. "They couldn't believe that one architect did the work that all of them were doing."

Cohen's pride in that moment was soon marbled with sadness. He never got the chance to tell Mr. McLaughlin about it.

Mr. McLaughlin died at his Richmond home Thursday. He had been treated for non-Hodgkins lymphoma for two years. He was 62."